Time lapse of a level being constructed.

As requested, here is a timelapse of a level being constructed in 3D. Its important to note that this is only about 2 hours of work, with a full level usually requiring around 12 hours-so we are at around 10% complete here.

But this gives a pretty good idea about how I work when putting together a level. From here, I would render out the animated areas, and put them into the engine. I will record that process when I get there.

Awesome, thanks! Gives some interesting insights. I think anything like this – and this blog in general – that gives some hope and inspiration to the indie community is great. I won’t argue that lots of major commercial games are a lot of fun to play and sometimes even capable of surprising depth of emotion and story. On the other hand, I think lots of those games neglect certain areas (namely, artistic expression and beauty) that the indie community has the dedication to pursue. In a nutshell, why I think Stasis is great.
The more people we get doing work like you’re doing on Stasis, the more voices out there worth hearing and the more the indie community will have to offer. Sorry, didn’t mean to go too deep there…

http://www.stasisgame.com Chris

You know, after going deeper into game design as STASIS has been developed, I really can understand WHY commercial games are the way they are.
From a mechanics point of view, I think you would be surprised at how complex the developers want to make their game. I read a Post Mortem about BIOSHOCK, and their initial build had an EXTREMELY complex character management system. It was something that they saw as intrinsic to the game-but the more they played it, it not only became more and more difficult to balance the game-but it became less and less fun.

Simplifying it let them focus more on the more enjoyable aspects of the game. Now, Im sure that the super-complex first build would have appealed to quite a few people, but the market it would have alienated is MASSIVE.

These games take hundreds of people YEARS to make, so it becomes a case of ‘mass appeal’, to ensure that they break even.
The only other model to follow is to have smaller teams work on smaller/shorter games. I had quite a bit of hope when Episodic games came to the fore, because I thought exactly this would happen. If the budgets were 1/5’th of a full game, then perhaps developers would push boundires more in gameplay, and storytelling. BUt alas, the Episodic format’s take almost as long as full games. I actually stopped waiting for HL 2: Episode: whatever-they-are-on.

Indie devs push boundries because we can. If I sell 20 000 units, I could go full time in game dev. If the latest Modern Warfare only hits sales in the millions, its a flop.

I think that, with the iPad and other mobile platforms becoming serious contenders in the ‘console’ market, smaller dev teams are able to make smaller games, but still get enough of a return to continue with development.

-Chris

Mike

Very cool as always. You make it look a lot easier than it is, I think.

Ezra

Hi Chris,

Just have to say STASIS is looking AWESOME so far
wanted ask what program are you using to create the game engine and put everything (3d objects, animation) together in code?

Ezra

Nevermind, saw it in a previous post ;P Visionaire…

http://www.stasisgame.com Chris

Yeah-Visionaire is my weapon of choice. 😀

Chris

Hello there,

one of the most promising indie projects i have seen so far. All the more impressive doing it all on your own. Kudos to you!

I have one question regarding your workflow: at the end of the timelapse, after rendering, you get a new window without interface and change colors and lights – is this a specific plugin, or some kind of 3dsmax or vray functionality? Would be too kind to know about this, thanks in advance.

All the best for your project!

http://www.stasisgame.com Chris

Hey Chris (good name!)

That is After Effects being used for colour correction. There is no interface because I use a dual monitor setup, with the interface all on one screen, and the output on the other.

Chris

Ah, i see. Thank you for this fast answer

I guess Chris (actually Christian in my case) is a favourite name, we were seven Christians at primary school o.o

By the way, i think i read all your blog entries on one evening – so interesting. The isometric perspectice is brilliant for an adventure game (i loved fallout 1+2 too), you care so much for good graphics and style (the map with slices of glass for example) and your ideas concerning puzzles and gameplay are fresh and clever. Can’t wait to see more of it.

“any chance of having the next one you do a bit slower.”
^ this one. Full ack!